[WHF] The Broken Mirror - A Divided Loyalties Peggy Sue

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You spend most of an afternoon watching carefully as Cecilia demonstrates her precise method of casting Ruin and Destruction, mentally analysing the details of its structure and of how it travels from her into the target - a single branch that chars instantly to ash and coal-flakes.

After four hours, and a brief break for dinner, you first test your casting of Burning Shadow a handful of times to ensure you are able to leave space for her spell - the gap you must leave inside the structure of the spell is much larger than it was in your previous tests, but it is within your grasp - and then slot the hourglass into your staff to prepare for the first combined casting.

You both begin to cast, a rapid fire series of syllables in Praestentia, and as your words seem to mingle in the air you both stumble slightly. Your hourglass flips, and you regain your focus just in time - your Burning Shadows is slightly too tightly-knit, but it is holding together.

Cecilia doesn't recover, her staff cannot save her failing spell, and the Ruin and Destruction unravels within your Burning Shadows, rebounding back into Cecilia and lashing flame across her skin, burning her cheek and singing her robes.

Your barely stable casting of Burning Shadows begins to turn to Dhar as the recoiling Aqshy collides with too much force to accept. You begin trying to control the Ulgu and direct the energy away, but then your staff clicks once more, with greater force this time, and you realise you are going about it all wrong - you pull a single thread and the spell explodes, the Ulgu dissipating rapidly, pushed aside by the expanding Aqshy, and leaving only the handful of Dhar that had already formed to deal with.

For a second you are tempted to crush the Dhar in your fist and watch it ignite - but you no longer have that option, and thus you are forced to ground it with more mundane means.

Once you've finished grounding your unruly spell you touch Cecilia's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I've been burnt far worse in the past." Cecilia reaches out to the wood pile you were using as the target of the spell. The top of the wood is barely charred. "The spell's failure is more concerning."

"It wasn't inevitable." You reply. "I'm replaying the casting in my head, and I can see exactly what went wrong.

"It all started with the rhythm of our voices being out of sync and slightly off-key." You continue. "I think I'm beginning to understand why the Light Order has their casting-groups be Choruses."

"So if we want to cast this sort of spell together - we need to learn to sing together?"

"If we want it to be reliable, I suspect so. Or, at least, we need to practise our rhythm together."

Cecilia touches the burn on her face and sighs. "Maybe next time. For now, I'd like to hear all your observations - perhaps I'll notice some hint that you didn't."

And so you continue - you detail how the stumbling over each other's syllables led you to tighten your weave of Ulgu too tightly, how she poured more energy into her spell than any of her previous castings, and how the two combined to create a bottleneck.

Your analysis makes it clear that this method of casting is significantly more unstable - the Aqshy was behaving almost as wildly as that found in Battle Magic, rejecting the bonds of Ulgu - but the theory still checks out, even with the minor ways the experiment differed from your model the casting remains possible.

To take it from possible to reliable requires a form of finesse that you have yet to develop - one that the Light College have mastered and the Grey College has left untouched. If you want to master windherded casting you may have to earn the name of Sängerkritisch once again, but in an entirely different way...

Arcane Skill progress gained: Co-operative Casting (1/3)


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After a swift journey on your shadowsteed you arrive at the town of Izborak, just northwest of Praag and on the very edge of the Forest of Spirits.

At the town square you find a trio of witches - Ljiljana seeming just as ancient now as she did a decade hence, Věnceslava looking at you like a protective parent, equal parts grateful and judgemental, with Milica standing before you in a sleeveless dress that makes the blank flesh where her arms should be all the more obvious.

"I am Věnceslava of the Hromada Ledyanoy Ved'ma, Milica you have already met, and our eldest sister is Ljiljana."

"A coven of three?" You ask, while you subtly scan the area for the fourth.

"We often are." Replies Věnceslava, "There's power in a triad, and responsibility too. Most importantly, there's continuity - when one falls, another can take their place. When two fall, two more can rise. Only when three fall at once does the unbroken line of tradition end."

You can sense no sign of a fourth ice witch - perhaps young Zlata's not yet amongst their number, or perhaps she's simply busy elsewhere. "Do you wish to speak here, or is there somewhere more private to discuss matters?"

Věnceslava smiles, "I thought you might join us for a meal at my house. It would be the first step in expressing our thanks for your actions in saving Milica's life."

It's only a short walk from the town square to Věnceslava's large townhouse. The structure is wooden, with large arcane carvings featuring prominently on the door; although they hold no magic that you can sense. Only one aspect of the place feels mystical to you - an icy chandelier that hangs above the dining table, glowing with reflected sunlight despite no sunlight striking it.

After a hard morning of riding, the meal of borscht and mushroom dumplings is a welcome respite - while the sour soup is far from your favourite food, the dumplings are delicious and the food is plentiful - but watching a maidservant feed Milica adds rather a bitter note to the meal.

During the meal you make light small talk with Věnceslava, Ljiljana rarely participating, preferring to translate for Milica's benefit - but then Milica excuses herself to attend the restroom, taking her maidservant with her.

Ljiljana speaks up the moment Milica and the maidservant are out of earshot. "We have important question for you."

"I assumed so, didn't think you'd call me all the way here for a meal. I assume you want to know about the events surrounding Karak Vlag?"

"Hospitality is vital, but yes we have calls upon your knowledge also." Věnceslava nods. "We are the guardians of Belyevobota - High Pass. It is our Coven that once served as the link between Karak Vlag and Kislev. The nature of the prophecy, the status of the dwarves, and your perspective on the whole situation will help us massively..."

"Other question first though." Ljiljana interrupts. "You saved Milica with item of Verdant wind, yha? I have fought wielder of Verdant wind among the followers of Za - could heal all, even regrow arms. But to do such she called on Za as well as wind."

"And my crone told tales of the Great War, of soldiers cut in twain being reknit and made whole." Věnceslava picks a cloth-wrapped bundle out of a cupboard and unrolls it, revealing a frozen, crushed, left arm, two fingers completely missing and the others barely solid. "Can your Jade order reattach this limb? Or grow her a new one in its stead?"

"That limb was torn off in a battle that featured The Plagued One's spawn." You baulk. "To reattach it would risk infecting Milica. Even thawing it out would be dangerous."

Ljiljana glares at you, but Věnceslava replies gently. "The hag witch that healed Milica has cleansed the arm as well. Neither malign magic nor disease spirits remain within it. All that remains is to determine whether Milica can have it restored."

You examine it carefully with your magesight. There's no sign of magic within it beyond that of the Ice Witches, keeping it preserved, but the influence of chaos is not always visible.

[ ] [Milica] It was torn off then trampled during a fight with Nurgle's spawn, it's not safe for it to be reattached, whatever their Hag Witch might claim. Tell them it's impossible.
[ ] [Milica] You can do it right now with your enchanted item.
[ ] [Milica] You can do it before returning to camp, but you'll need a feast immediately afterwards to recharge the protective magic for your own protection.
[ ] [Milica] If they come to the camp where the full Imperial Contingent is you can do it there. [Locks in one of the three actions for next round as further interactions with the Ice Witches]
[ ] [Milica] The Jade Order can do it - you can call in a favour to have a Jade magister capable of the spell visit them.
[ ] [Milica] The Jade Order can do it - but they'll have to travel to Altdorf for that.
[ ] [Milica] (Write-in?)

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Your usage of illusions to replace some of Jutta's food with shaped snow has gradually begun to pay off - with her stomach less full she no longer vomits after every few bites, she no longer seems like a mindless eating machine.

As she has several times over the last few days she glares at you and grumbles. "Stop faking food!"

But then she goes a step further - she starts stirring the shape of magic with her hands, and before you can react to her workings she finishes them with a massive bellowing belch.

Without your windsight you'd have assumed that belching in place of her spell vocals meant that Jutta failed to cast entirely. But you can see energy flowing through her take shape; energy that resembles that used by the Ogres.

She successfully shaped a dispel through belching and borborgymos - she is wielding the power of the Great Maw. It's just that she's no wielding it well enough to overcome your own skill with Ulgu and actually dispel the illusions.

Her return to relative lucidity has allowed her access to magic again.

What's your first priority?

[ ] [Jutta] Study: An imperial magister is using a semi-divine form of magic previously believed to be unique to Ogres. Encouraging her to demonstrate the magic with promise of food could allow some new discoveries.
[ ] [Jutta] Safety: You suspect her spell-casting will be limited to Lesser Magic; but if you're wrong the results could be disastrous. She needs to be kept either unconscious or under the guard of a wizard at all times.
[ ] [Jutta] Sanity: If she's lucid enough to cast, she's lucid enough to talk. Get Filiberta in here and try to get her thinking like a human again.
[ ] [Jutta] (Write-in?)

AN: Thought I should put this out before the end of the year, even if it has been two months since I updated. Hopefully I'll be a bit faster next time